brainwashed Posted July 7 Share Posted July 7 I have a fairly low-mileage (~28000 km) 2015 VFR with fairly new tires (<5000 km) but haven't actually been on a long winding trip for years. Went with a few friends with 800-900cc adventure motorcycles and they kicked my ass on the winding roads. I have ridden the really old VFR750 to the ground and had much more confidence in it, but that was years ago. I really lack the confidence of going into blind corners since there I don't really consider this bike flickable Suspension is probably stock, haven't messed with it. I only remembered to check the pressures afterwards, they were 2.2 and 2.6 instead of 2.5 and 2.9 stock, not sure if that makes a huge difference. I had to switch the bike into manual mode to get some stability with higher RPMs (~5000). Rear brake is very weak IMHO but both Honda and the inspection guys said it was within spec. Tires are some Continental SportAttack 3, I think. I'm not the greatest rider, I admit, but the bike seems somehow hard to steer and hard to flick compared to other bikes, I'm getting a real workout. Suspension seems to do its job just fine, though not sure how far it is from factory or stock performance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer mello dude Posted July 7 Member Contributer Share Posted July 7 An easy quick thing to tryout... raise the forks in the triple clamps 10 - 15mm... Cant really comment on how the setup on the stock 8th gen is, but on my 5th gen, it steered like a truck until I raised the forks. And actually, I lengthend the shock by about 15mm too. If you want to go farther than that, suspension upgrades work wonders. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremyr62 Posted July 8 Share Posted July 8 I would definitely try pumping up your tyres first. I find 40psi (2.8 Bar) front and 42psi (2.9 Bar) rear makes my VFR1200 handle a lot better. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Skids Posted July 8 Member Contributer Share Posted July 8 Must admit I struggled with the suspension when I first got mine. Completely changed when I had it upgraded. Not cheap but worth every penny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremyr62 Posted July 9 Share Posted July 9 I find mine feels planted at very high speed but at low speed it's not great. I have had two and they were the same so it just seems to be a characteristic of the bike. No doubt in mind this is one of the reasons it failed so badly. I have a Nitron R2 on the back and it hasn't made as much of a difference as I had hoped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer RC1237V Posted July 10 Member Contributer Share Posted July 10 ^ All of the above, in addition to the VFR1200 having a 4 inch longer wheelbase that the VFR800 making it a bit more work to hustle through the tight stuff. I raised my forks (lowered the front) and shimmed the rear shock as far as it would go. Also upgraded the shock and forks, and put some spiegler upright supermoto type bars on it. Now it handles how I like it, but it still makes you huff and puff when you're trying to keep up with sportsbikes... remember it weighs 600 pounds too... Get some rubber that turns in better, I always liked the Pirelli Angel GT and any of the Road2, Road4, Road5 series tires - have not tried the road 6's but I'm sure they are good too. I run a few psi less than the sticker on the bike, but running it at (42/36 I think) as suggested makes it turn easier too. Also work on your rider skills and soon you will be shredding the tires to the edge. Honda made the bike at the touring end of sporty, if there is such a thing, from the factory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brainwashed Posted July 16 Author Share Posted July 16 Thank you everyone for the replies. I was expecting I would get an email notification but never did which is why I'm responding so late. I'm used to burning the rubber on edge on most bikes, but don't feel safe with this one. Just had a talk with the previous owner who switched to the X variant and he said that that bike feels about the same, just a bit more maneuverable. He also loses grip on the back wheel with no rider input. I will try lowering the front and also some recommended suspension settings. The most disconcerting feeling is the loss of grip on the back, it happens quite often to me which I think it means I'm close to the limit, so it's either the tires or suspension. The bike should be able to lean down to the pegs, I refuse to think that it was never meant to do that. I also have some professional riders turned bike mechanics near me, will try to get an appointment with one of them and will report here if I have something interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer bmart Posted July 16 Member Contributer Share Posted July 16 Lowering the front will provide more rear grip? Please explain. There are a lot of variables and sub-variables. Tires alone would require you to look at PSI, date codes, marking them to see if they're spinning on a rim (more common than you might think), uneven wear creating low traction zones from this rubber or high spots. Ergonomics and body position. Suspension components, settings, and geometry. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Skids Posted July 16 Member Contributer Share Posted July 16 7 hours ago, brainwashed said: Thank you everyone for the replies. I was expecting I would get an email notification but never did which is why I'm responding so late. I'm used to burning the rubber on edge on most bikes, but don't feel safe with this one. Just had a talk with the previous owner who switched to the X variant and he said that that bike feels about the same, just a bit more maneuverable. He also loses grip on the back wheel with no rider input. I will try lowering the front and also some recommended suspension settings. The most disconcerting feeling is the loss of grip on the back, it happens quite often to me which I think it means I'm close to the limit, so it's either the tires or suspension. The bike should be able to lean down to the pegs, I refuse to think that it was never meant to do that. I also have some professional riders turned bike mechanics near me, will try to get an appointment with one of them and will report here if I have something interesting. I sympathise with your issue here, but the VFR1200 you speak of is not remotely the same as my experience of mine or the 2 VFR1200s my mates ride. There are 2 areas where you may find the issue/solution: The bike - not heard of a VFR1200 acting like this but it is NOT NORMAL. Either you have a suspension issue and/or a tyre issue. The Rider - either your expectations are not aligned with the rest of us who find the bike awesome, your riding style and/or your experience (linked to expectation). Do you have anyone you know who owns a 1200 that you could swap bikes with and see if it's the bike or you? Whichever it is I hope you are able to sort it as the VFR1200 is an outstanding motorcycle. Feels safe at whatever speed and angle of bank right up to the limit of the tyre. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Terry Posted July 16 Member Contributer Share Posted July 16 On 7/10/2024 at 3:48 PM, RC1237V said: ^ All of the above, in addition to the VFR1200 having a 4 inch longer wheelbase that the VFR800 making it a bit more work to hustle through the tight stuff. I raised my forks (lowered the front) and shimmed the rear shock as far as it would go. Also upgraded the shock and forks, and put some spiegler upright supermoto type bars on it. Now it handles how I like it, but it still makes you huff and puff when you're trying to keep up with sportsbikes... remember it weighs 600 pounds too... Get some rubber that turns in better, I always liked the Pirelli Angel GT and any of the Road2, Road4, Road5 series tires - have not tried the road 6's but I'm sure they are good too. I run a few psi less than the sticker on the bike, but running it at (42/36 I think) as suggested makes it turn easier too. Also work on your rider skills and soon you will be shredding the tires to the edge. Honda made the bike at the touring end of sporty, if there is such a thing, from the factory. +1 on the tyres comments. Personally I find the Michelin Road5/6 to have a more "eager" turn-in which I like. Continental and Metzeler have tended to be more "steady as she goes" tyres which can calm a frisky bike down a little. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Viffy Posted July 24 Member Contributer Share Posted July 24 Front tyre pressure is critical, yours was too low. Road 6's do indeeed turn in quicker in my experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brainwashed Posted July 29 Author Share Posted July 29 So I did the recommended suspension settings (overall softer rebound and preload) and it improved the ride a bit, but not drastically. However the rear tyre "skip" stopped. Tyre pressures were indeed a bit low, but updating them to the standard spec did not make a lot of change. What it did make a lot of change was lowering the front by about 4cm. The turn-in behavior changed from "heavily resisting" to neutral. Some history about the bike: it was purchased new by a friend of mine, he said it was riding like this since day one. He has since switched to the VFR1200X which he says it's night-and-day difference. I put new tyres on it which were only ridden for about 3000-5000km and perhaps only 10% highway straights. The old tyres had a completely flat portion in the middle since he did not have the confidence to lean too heavily and also did a lot of highway. Both of us have almost 20 years experience with motorcycles. Years ago I had an old VFR750 which I rode to the pegs. Never thought of tyre skipping but I will mark it. If it does not happen under heavy acceleration I doubt it can happen in a lean. Once I need to change the rubber (next year?) I will consider the options enumerated by others, until then it remains a 'satisfactory' ride, significantly improved after the new settings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Skids Posted July 29 Member Contributer Share Posted July 29 Good news. IMO, the standard suspension will never be good enough for that bike, it needs new fork inners and a quality rear shock. Transformed mine. Good luck. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brainwashed Posted August 29 Author Share Posted August 29 After a few weeks of riding around the city, the chicken strips are definitely smaller and there's evidence of being on the edge a few times. I will try to lower it a bit more from the front, not sure what other side effects that might induce. Hopefully just an incremental improvement. Saw a Nürburgring run with a stock VFR on YouTube, that guy really knows what he's doing. With a DCT it's even more impressive as those (including mine) are pretty slow to shift compared to a manual shifter. You can only trigger a shift every 500ms-1s. I think the initial instability was caused by a tight grip on the handlebars, which was needed since the bike was really slow to turn in. Ideally there should be no handlebar input needed during a turn, right now a tiny bit is still required. Front wheel skipping was completely eliminated, rear wheel skipping almost completely, rear wheel sliding is now uneventful. Just wanted to share my update, but the suspension changes definitely made it a new bike and allows rider progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer swimmer Posted August 29 Member Contributer Share Posted August 29 Maybe removing 200cc affected the handling? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafcom Posted August 31 Share Posted August 31 So I've also been struggling with the handling on my 12 but thought it was 33% me, 33% cheap tyres and 33% not "ideal" suspension. I've tried fiddling with the suspension settings but it never felt right and ended up back at standard. The tyres, yeah when I bought the 12 about a year ago the tyres on it were cracked all over and I asked the dealer to change them as part of the purchase, which they did. They fitted Bridgestone Battlax BT54s, which I later found out was used on the original Hayabusa 25 years ago 🙈 So after reading the recommendations here, I tried lowering the front as well, went down 30mm, and DAMN what a transformation. Now it's agile and stable (no longer wobbles in the bends) and it goes where I point it and all of that with my "old" BT54s. It does beg the question though, why? Why is it more stable now that the steering angle is even steeper, doesn't that normally make a bike more twitchy? And why didn't Honda do that from the get go? This does create 2 small issues though, 1. The screen is now 30mm lower and I'm getting a lot of buffeting again (Powerbronze double bubble) and 2. Although the front does not bottom out while riding (haven't tried two up yet) it did when I entered my drive way (as in the headlight knocks on the fender). I did set the front preload to 6mm out and I wouldn't want to go much harder, so any idea how to combat this? Thanks, R Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Presson Posted August 31 Member Contributer Share Posted August 31 Oh rafcom, a whole load of questions. The Bridgestone tyres have a much stiffer sidewall than Michelin or Metzler so they have an impact on turn in. Lowering the front is ok to make the bike tun quicker but interacts with a load of other stuff. You don't want it so low that your mudguard and fender are regularly making contact Has the rear been lowered or raised with a washer under the rear shock mount . Preload doesn't really affect hardness, just ride height generally speaking. What is your rebound setting; go for as little as possible initially to soften things up. Do you ride with straight or bent arms; a stiff rider leads to a ragged turn.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafcom Posted September 2 Share Posted September 2 As best I can tell, everything suspension wise is stock. So I lifted the forks again by 15mm and it feels nearly as bad as before. I also realised that the rear Bridgestone is 10mm smaller (diameter) than it's supposed to be (180/55 instead of a 190/55), so definitely need to make a plan for some new tires. Oh and always bent arms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Skids Posted September 2 Member Contributer Share Posted September 2 I'd change dealers if I were you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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